


The reception

by SheenaWilde



Category: Take That (Band)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Morning After
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 22:15:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5945125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheenaWilde/pseuds/SheenaWilde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robbie and Gary unexpectedly meet at a reception. After long years of not talking and seeing each other in person, it is a very confusing and scary thing, but also thrilling. Robbie just has to do something about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The reception

**Author's Note:**

> It's set in somewhere late 2005, early 2006, before the Take That reunion. I'd say more like 2005, before the documentary, but it doesn't really matter.
> 
> Also, it took me embarrassingly long to finish this. I was going to finish it 'in a day', and look at me now, months later...

The reception was better than Robbie would have thought. So far he only had to speak to one asshole, and hey, that was extremely good if you were in such an occasion for more than two hours!

But as he was strolling through the room, returning greetings and smiling politely, he froze on spot when his eyes met with that of Gary Barlow’s. He knew that Gary would be here, too, but so far he had only seen him on stage. Now he was standing only a couple of steps away from him, staring right into his eyes, the two of them equally surprised. This was the closest Robbie had been to him since, what, 1997? He had no idea what he should do but he was slightly grateful that he saw the same confusion mirrored in Gary’s eyes. Then someone spoke to Gary, making him look away and Robbie quickly ducked, hurrying away. He didn’t need to be noticed standing there like a deer caught in the headlight. He went over to the bar, leaned against it and cautiously looked towards Gary, although he could barely see anything of him from there. A bitter feeling clenched his heart, torn between going over to him and escaping the other way. In the end the crowd shifted, so he would once again see Gary. After a short while, their eyes met once again and this time Gary offered a shy smile which he returned with a rather shaky one. Then Gary turned back to his conversation partner and Robbie to face the cute bartender girl.

“Hi! Could you get me a glass of white wine? Sweet, of good quality” he asked from the girl as he reached for a napkin. “Oh, and do you happen to have a pen?”

“Yes, sir” the girl nodded as she paused, put the wine glass from her hand down for a moment to get the pen out of her pocket, and held it out for Robbie before returning to making the order.

“Thanks” he smiled at her, then reached to start scribbling on the napkin. But he quickly paused, realizing that it was harder than he thought. What on earth could he possibly write? They hadn’t talked in ages… That was also the reason why he didn’t dare to approach him directly, but damn, he wanted to speak with him. It had been years, years they had been playing a stupid war on each other… It was exhausting, pointless and Rob was so tired of it, he just wanted to talk to him like a normal human being…

“Here’s your order, sir” the bartender placed the glass of wine on the counter beside him with a sweet smile, distracting him for a moment.

“Ah, yeah, thanks” Robbie said with an absent-minded smile before staring down at the empty napkin again.

He took a deep breath and went for simplicity in the end. Gary might be a romantic when it came to songwriting, but he liked to be practical with this kind of things, so Robbie wrote only the strictly necessary information. Gary will be able to decide if he wanted to come or not.

‘Meet me in room 216 at 11 if you’d like. Would be nice to talk somewhere quiet. – R’

Yes, this will do it.

Robbie handed the pen back to the girl, thanking her for it quickly, then took the glass of wine in one hand, the napkin in the other and looked around for a waiter. As he scanned the crowed, he saw Josie give him a disapproving glare, but she didn’t come to him, just continued talking with a man. Well, she could disapprove all she wanted for what Robbie cared, the wine wasn’t for himself.

When he finally found a waiter, he quickly stepped in front of the man, startling him slightly.

“Sorry, mate. Could you do something for me?” Robbie asked, and when the man only nodded, he grinned. “Brilliant! Then please, give this to Mr. Gary Barlow over there, will you?” he said, placing first the napkin, then the glass of wine on the tray the waiter held up for him. He was careful that the message would be visible through the base of the glass but not quite readable, and that it wouldn’t get wet and smeared. “It’s important he gets the napkin. Just shove it in his hands if he protests. But you gotta give him the napkin. Thanks!” he released the waiter with the instructions, then hurried towards the exit. It was 22:40 he realized as he glanced at his phone. He did set quite a strict time – all the more reason for him to get out of the room as fast as he could, the other being that he didn’t want to be present when Gary read that message. If he just threw it out, Robbie preferred not to witness it.

As he exited the room, he rushed to the lifts and furiously slammed at the buttons. He needed to get to his room, make it a bit more presentable – although it wasn’t that horrible, just a few clothes here and there – but he also needed the time to calm down a bit. The courage he had while writing the note and giving it to the waiter faded the moment he left the room. He had to find it again real quick if Gary was coming...

He fled the lift the moment its door opened and rushed to his room. He was in there in no time, already starting to collect the scattered clothes from the floor and the bed, throwing them in the wardrobe just to hide the mess, then went to make the bed. Just as he was finishing it, it occurred to him how he didn't care about it ten years ago. How he wouldn't even kick his clothes out of the way, yet now his room looked so tidy he himself couldn't recognize it as his own. Of course it wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad either. Now all that was left was to wait for Gary to show up. If he showed up at all, that is. Damn it all, Robbie hoped that he came but also that he didn't. He wanted to talk to him, but it was going to be weird after such a long time, after all that happened... The thought of Gary coming here just to argue with him, to tell him in person all those things they were throwing at each other through the media... it just terrified him.

Robbie looked at the clock on the wall and his heart almost leaped out of his chest. It showed 11 pm. Gary could come any minute now. A knock on the door in any moment now and every single one of his questions would be answered, positively or negatively, or there would be no knock at all and that would be a clear answer too... Or he would wait here for fifteen minutes, maybe half an hour, then go back to the reception and hide between the people. Or maybe just stay here for the rest of the night and feel miserable alone. He would decide once it was sure Gary wasn't showing up. Just yet he couldn't know what would become of it.

Ten minutes past eleven, and there's a knock on his door. It's unsure and silent, but there it was and it was just a miracle. Robbie was at the door in no time, taking one last deep calming breath before opening it and there he was, Gary Barlow, looking about just as nervous as Robbie and holding the napkin in his clutched hand.  
“Hey” Robbie smiled at him and stepped aside from the door as a silent invitation.

“Hello” Gary returned the smile, slowly stepping in the room but didn't go too far in. He looked uncomfortable and was trying to avoid looking at Robbie's eyes without it being obvious but it wasn't very successful. Although Robbie didn't blame him, it was an awkward situation for sure. But Robbie invited him and Gary came, so now they had to sort it out for themselves. “So, uh... this is your room? Wouldn't have guessed, it's so clean. Nothing like it used to be” Gary tried to joke as he looked around.

“Yeah... Guess the inevitable is happening and I really am growing up” Robbie shrugged, laughing softly but he was watching Gary – he couldn't look away, he needed to know what Gary was thinking.

“Huh, sounds like we're nearing the end of the world...” Gary chuckled as well, but it was short-lived, the nervousness returned to his face immediately. A few moments of tense silence followed, neither of them willing to continue the smalltalk as they knew it couldn't go on forever. Then Gary sighed and looked straight at Robbie, for the first time since he arrived and raised the hand holding the napkin. “So, I got your message, that you wanted to talk. Well, I'm here. What was it you wanted to talk about?”

Robbie tensed somewhat at the sudden question. Ah, here was the Gary he knew... But yes, he preferred not to continue with this awkwardness.

“I didn't have anything specific in mind, I just... wanted to talk to you. You know, just have a nice chat somewhere where there is no audience ogling us” he explained, forcing himself to focus on what he was saying and not babble, as was typical of him. “But if you don't want to...”

“Why?” Gary interrupted him, looking at him slightly puzzled, like the concept of them talking was so alien to him. Well, after the last decade, Robbie couldn't exactly blame him for it...

“Because I missed you” he blurted out before he could stop himself. “I missed you so much and it has been almost ten years, and then there you were today, standing there only a couple of steps away and... I thought why not? It's as good of a time as any...” Oh god, now he was rambling...

“You're right. It has been an awfully long time” Gary said suddenly, silently, but it was still enough to make Robbie fall silent. Gary was embarrassed but also serious as he was looking right into his eyes. “I missed you too.”

That was it, that was Robbie's limit – he rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Gary in a tight hug. It was ridiculous how much time had passed since he had last done that, since they had last met in person. Now it felt amazing, almost surreal to have Gary so close, hugging him back without protest. They just held on to each other without a word for long, Robbie couldn't tell how long, but didn't really care either.

“Gaz, I missed you, I missed you so badly...” Robbie whispered, burying his face to Gary's hair, enjoying his closeness and his scent that still seemed familiar.

Gary smiled and pulled closer, closing his eyes but didn't say anything. It had been strange and painful to lose someone he used to be so close to, a friend, all those years ago over things neither of them was to blame for, nor could they do anything about. Things had gotten quickly out of control and they had shortly become petty insults. There were some things they had said or done that they could not possibly forgive for each other – or for themselves for that matter – so quickly, but for now, Gary was willing to forget about them, and it seemed Robbie was, too. So he just kept his eyes close while he held onto Robbie, and tried to deal with the rush of emotions it caused. That silly heart of his, beating so fast.

Robbie was content with being silent for now too, especially that it became clear that Gary needed it. It seemed they weren't going back to the reception and he was completely fine with that, especially that he got Gary instead, but he knew they could stand there like this for only so long. So he waited patiently for what he felt was a healthy amount of time, then pulled back slightly, just to be able to look into Gary's eyes, but didn't let go of him.

“I'm glad you came... Even if we don't talk about anything earth-shaking, it's... it's good to know you don't hate me” he said silently, giving Gary a small smile.

“Don't be daft, you know that I couldn't hate you” Gary shook his head, scolding. “Just as you never actually hated me, I didn't hate you either.”

Robbie bit his bottom lip, nodding and looked down, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t trust what would come out of his mouth if he opened it. So he just leaned their foreheads together as he closed his eyes, holding Gary close. Robbie felt Gary cup his face with one hand, the other staying on his arm. He felt Gary starting to stroke his cheek gently. He felt his breath on his face, and tensed up when he realized how close they really were.

Gary felt Robbie’s lips on his own and responded before he ever knew what was going on. When his mind caught up to what was happening, a shiver ran down his spine and he pressed further into Robbie’s arms. His fingers tangled into short black hair, his other hand gripped at a strong shoulder, and he felt the warm arms around him hold him tighter. The kiss was new and frightening but the hug was familiar and comfortable and very much missed.

“Gosh, Gaz…” Robbie whispered when he pulled away for air, but he kept close, looking at him confused, slightly panicked.

“Yeah, I know” Gary nodded and cupped Robbie’s face again. He felt something similar about this but there was nothing they could do now. It happened, they had to deal with it now. Or maybe not, he thought as he pulled Robbie into another kiss. Maybe if they just continued it, then they wouldn’t have to talk about it. Maybe it would just take their minds off it, so they could enjoy the moment for what it was. It wasn’t like Robbie protested, he just eagerly kissed him back, pulling him close once again. It calmed him and also somewhat scared him, but he couldn’t care in that moment.

Robbie didn’t know how this happened, how this could be happening… and when he had lost himself in it. Soon his brain shut down, that one inner voice that was always criticizing him was muted, and his hands reached up on their own to push off Gary’s blazer. He didn’t know if he was more surprised by his own action, or the fact that it didn’t meet any resistance at all. But his hands moved on to slowly removing Gary’s bow tie, then started unbuttoning his shirt and he decided to abandon all reason.

The morning found Gary waking up next to a completely sprawled out Rob taking up most of the bed and having stolen his blanket, thank god that it was perfectly warm in the room. Despite all the things he supposed he should be feeling – confusion, anger, self-hate, awkwardness, panic -, he felt completely calm and relaxed. He slowly tried to pull some of the blanket back, for modesty’s sake if not else, even if there was nothing to be modest about anymore, and just lay there, watching Robbie sleep. He felt completely content like this, even as he held back his laughter when Rob snorted in his dream.

He had a vague idea of what time it was and how much was passing while he was resting like this, but there was nothing important planned for the day, so it wasn’t the end of the world if he’s late with going home. After the previous night, he allowed himself that much, conscience be damned.

An hour must have passed like this before Robbie started to stir. Finally he rolled to his side, facing Gary, and opened his eyes, blinking surprised at who he found there before visibly realizing that this was reality and accepted it.

“Good morning” Robbie muttered with a small smile.

“Good morning” Gary repeated, mirroring Rob’s smile, and averted his eyes.

Then there was silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable as in those long, outstretched things that make one stressed out, but it did hold some anticipation. None of them wanted to be the first to talk. Not because they were afraid to speak about what happened, but because none of them wanted to admit it was over so quickly.

“So… Should we talk about it?” Gary asked, glancing towards the other briefly.

“Well, it was sex” Robbie shrugged and propped himself up on his arms. “And sex usually means sex. I don’t have illusions.”

“But it wasn’t only sex, was it” Gary sighed, not looking at Rob, just continued staring at the ceiling. “It has never only been about that…”

“Look, Gaz” Robbie started, frowning at the pillow in front of him. “We can make it about what it actually was about, but that… That wouldn’t be nice. Lately we are… neutral to each other at best, but if we take this seriously, I…” he shook his head and finally looked up at Gary with a bitter expression. “Do we really want to open that door? I’d like to label last night as something positive.”

“Yeah… Me too” Gary whispered, closing his eyes for a moment, then turned to look back at Rob. “You’re right.”

Silence followed his words as they were lying there, both of them just staring forward, sometimes glancing at the other. They knew they couldn’t just do this forever but none of them wanted to break the moment. It was so peaceful to be this close to each other with the memories of the previous night on their mind, and it was pleasant, even if a bit awkward. They didn’t mind it. And Gary dreaded the quickly approaching moment when he had to get up, get dressed and walk out of this room, out of their bubble.

He sat up slowly and leaned to Rob, cupping his face with a hand before kissing him on the lips – for one last time while he could still do it. This, where they were now, was something surreal and it was going to slip away. This was his final chance. They lay back to the bed together with Gary on top of Robbie and stayed like that for minutes, exchanging slow, lazy kisses, as if that was going to drag out the morning. Robbie rubbed his hands up and down on Gary’s sides, thinking about how nice it felt to have their naked bodies pressed together like this. He knew he was going to miss this…

Then with a final peck to his lips, Gary pulled away and stood from the bed. He started searching for his clothes that were scattered on the floor next to Robbie’s and laughed at the wolf whistle coming from the bed when he leaned down to pick them up. He got dressed unwillingly and looked at his bow tie, thinking about what he should do with that.

“The ‘I-didn’t-sleep-in-my-own-room-because-I-partied-hard’ guide says you should hang it around your neck” Robbie informed him helpfully, grinning, as he was lying on his stomach, watching Gary.

“Thanks for the advice!” he laughed and hung it around his neck just to humor Rob. He knew he should probably get going but he was still standing there awkwardly, not really knowing how to say goodbye in such a situation. ‘See you around’ didn’t really apply now. “Well, I guess I’ll leave now. It was… nice seeing you.”

“Yeah” Robbie said silently, smiling at Gary softly. “It was.”

With that, Gary left the room, leaving the night behind himself.

As he was walking through the corridors, back to his own room, images of the previous night were rushing through his mind and he couldn’t help but smile. However controversial last night was, it left them both with a good aftertaste – something to help the years of bitterness wear off…


End file.
